Timmyk
Guest
Well to start this is not a SEAT however this is my project car.
I brought this 1973 Hillman Imp in 2010 for £150.00. It was a rolling shell and my original intentions was to turn it back into life with an original 875cc engine.
I had originally intended on doing all the work my self and self teach myself mechanics.
The first step was to upgrade the suspension and so I brought a set of GAZ front coilovers and rear adjustable dampers with Monte Carlo 1" lowering springs.
I then purchased a "sold as seen" 875cc engine with a Fiesta Zetec front disc conversion. After stripping the engine back I was disappointed to find it was seized and needed a rebore. So after wasting £300 I decided to have a think about the direction.
I have always wanted a fast road/track ready car so I decided lets add some power......
Whilst I thought about a suitable engine I brought a roll cage. It needed some TLC so I brought it back to life.
I also brought a set of Corbeau Forza Sport bucket seats with harnesses, Replica Works Rally Dash, OMP Style deep dish steering wheel & MGB Gauges.
So up to this stage it took me up to November 2012
As you can see i;m not the fastest mechanic and soon realised I was out of my depth....
I contact a local garage called Southways and we discussed various options such as R1 engine, original 998cc Rally engine and a few others.
I arranged to get the car collected on 8th December for what was going to be a very special one off project after finding a suitable engine. Before they collected the car I fitted a set of JBW wheels 13" x 5.5 with Toyo Proxes.
Before
After
Day of collection
So after a few days hunting eBay we found the perfect donor car....... A 1998 Saxo VTR.
The car cost £300 and was a runner. It didnt look much but after a session on the rollers in averaged 95.5bhp! That was 3bhp over the factory 92bhp!
So the garage started to pull the engine out of the Saxo ready for its transplant.
So whilst the garage cracked on with that i decided to research some go faster parts and ended up buying quite a few goodies! Newman PH3 Rally/Tarmac fast road cam, Bogg Brothers Custom Inlet Manifold with Fireblade Carbs, 1" Sport Drive Shafts, custom carbon fibre bib spoiler and a Racelands 4-2-1 exhaust manifold.
We then hit a stumbling block.... what gearbox to use? As the original Imp was transaxle and the Saxo being transverse we didnt have much to go with. We looked into using a UN1 box from an R5 GTT however after some research I didnt have the £2k asking price. We hit the skids in early January until after a chat to an Imp specialist we got some great advice and I had a mk3 4 speed Imp gearbox refurbished with a beefier diff pin.
We are now in the stages of having a custom adaptor plate and custom flywheel made in order for it to fit together.
Template ready for engineer's.
Hmmm think ground clearance is going to be an issue!
So whats the final plan?
Well its going to be a replica Monte Carlo Rally edition running approx 120bhp @ 750kg (should be nippy!) running a megajolt ecu, plenty of custom carbon goodies, custom OEM looking exhaust silencer, Monte Carlo 73 Rally Graphics & other goodies.
I hope you like and i'll keep you guys posted on future works. If anyone is interested Southways Automotive have an Facebook page which shows the progress also.

I brought this 1973 Hillman Imp in 2010 for £150.00. It was a rolling shell and my original intentions was to turn it back into life with an original 875cc engine.

I had originally intended on doing all the work my self and self teach myself mechanics.
The first step was to upgrade the suspension and so I brought a set of GAZ front coilovers and rear adjustable dampers with Monte Carlo 1" lowering springs.


I then purchased a "sold as seen" 875cc engine with a Fiesta Zetec front disc conversion. After stripping the engine back I was disappointed to find it was seized and needed a rebore. So after wasting £300 I decided to have a think about the direction.

I have always wanted a fast road/track ready car so I decided lets add some power......
Whilst I thought about a suitable engine I brought a roll cage. It needed some TLC so I brought it back to life.






I also brought a set of Corbeau Forza Sport bucket seats with harnesses, Replica Works Rally Dash, OMP Style deep dish steering wheel & MGB Gauges.




So up to this stage it took me up to November 2012
I contact a local garage called Southways and we discussed various options such as R1 engine, original 998cc Rally engine and a few others.
I arranged to get the car collected on 8th December for what was going to be a very special one off project after finding a suitable engine. Before they collected the car I fitted a set of JBW wheels 13" x 5.5 with Toyo Proxes.

Before

After

Day of collection




So after a few days hunting eBay we found the perfect donor car....... A 1998 Saxo VTR.



The car cost £300 and was a runner. It didnt look much but after a session on the rollers in averaged 95.5bhp! That was 3bhp over the factory 92bhp!
So the garage started to pull the engine out of the Saxo ready for its transplant.


So whilst the garage cracked on with that i decided to research some go faster parts and ended up buying quite a few goodies! Newman PH3 Rally/Tarmac fast road cam, Bogg Brothers Custom Inlet Manifold with Fireblade Carbs, 1" Sport Drive Shafts, custom carbon fibre bib spoiler and a Racelands 4-2-1 exhaust manifold.



We then hit a stumbling block.... what gearbox to use? As the original Imp was transaxle and the Saxo being transverse we didnt have much to go with. We looked into using a UN1 box from an R5 GTT however after some research I didnt have the £2k asking price. We hit the skids in early January until after a chat to an Imp specialist we got some great advice and I had a mk3 4 speed Imp gearbox refurbished with a beefier diff pin.

We are now in the stages of having a custom adaptor plate and custom flywheel made in order for it to fit together.

Template ready for engineer's.


Hmmm think ground clearance is going to be an issue!
So whats the final plan?
Well its going to be a replica Monte Carlo Rally edition running approx 120bhp @ 750kg (should be nippy!) running a megajolt ecu, plenty of custom carbon goodies, custom OEM looking exhaust silencer, Monte Carlo 73 Rally Graphics & other goodies.
I hope you like and i'll keep you guys posted on future works. If anyone is interested Southways Automotive have an Facebook page which shows the progress also.